#me163
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text









The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet is a rocket-powered interceptor aircraft primarily designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt. It is the only operational rocket-powered fighter aircraft in history as well as the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph) in level flight.
Credited with the destruction of between nine and 18 Allied aircraft against ten losses.
Armament
Guns:
2 × 30 mm (1.181 in) Rheinmetall Borsig MK 108 cannon with 60 rpg (B-1a)
or
2 × 20 mm (0.787 in) MG 151/20 cannon with 100 rpg (Ba-1 / B-0 pre-production aircraft)
Germany started small-scale combat operations with the Me 163B in May 1944. The Me 163B's unsurpassed velocity was something Allied fighter pilots were at a loss to counter. The Komets attacked singly or in pairs, often even faster than the intercepting fighters could dive. A typical Me 163 tactic was to fly vertically upward through the bombers at 9,000 m (30,000 ft), climb to 10,700–12,000 m (35,100–39,400 ft), then dive through the formation again, firing as they went. This approach afforded the pilot two brief chances to fire a few rounds from his cannons before gliding back to his airfield. The pilots reported it was possible to make four passes on a bomber, but only if it was flying alone. According to the historian Mano Ziegler, Nazi officials were allegedly considering using the Me 163 to directly ram into enemy aircraft in suicide attacks; this desperate tactic was never actually used.
#history#ww2 art#ww2#wwii#wwii art#warship#art#artwork#warbird#fighter#me163#luftwaffe#military aircraft#military art#military aviation#aviation history#aviation#rocketplane#rocket#interceptor
25 notes
·
View notes
Text

Captured Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
2 notes
·
View notes
Text

Another painting l did in 2019.
Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet.
Acrylic on paper 42 x 29cm
@petehill854 via X
#me163 komet#messerschmitt#rocket fighter#luftwaffe#mosquito#de havilland aviation#fighter bomber#royal air force#aircraft#ww2#aviation
10 notes
·
View notes
Video
youtube
The Me163 Komet - Rockets Are Dangerous
1 note
·
View note
Photo
Prototipo Me163 de 1943 - Stan Hajek

1943 Me163 prototype - Stan Hajek
46 notes
·
View notes
Video
youtube
FAST AS A ROCKET! GIANT ME163 KOMET RC TURBINE JET FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION
1 note
·
View note
Video
youtube
The Rocket Planes War. Genius, Politics, And Corruption. From the Me 163 Komet to the Saunders-Roe SR.177. Featuring Eric "Winkle" Brown ➤➤ VIDEO ➤➤ https://youtu.be/hy7yQv7Owgg https://youtu.be/_InegQxwbwE #Me163 #EricBrown #Aviation #rocketpower #SkunkWorks #Lockheed #SaundersRoe
1 note
·
View note
Text

Test pilot Rudolf Opitz works on his Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet. It remains the only operational rocket powered fighter aircraft in history and the first piloted aircraft of any type to exceed 1,000 kilometres per hour (620 mph) in level flight. In 1944 unofficial records show he reached a top speed of over 1200kmh (745 mph)
#world war two#1940s#worldwar2photos#ww2 history#ww2#wwii#history#wwii era#world war 2#komet#me163#aviation#luftwaffe#rudolfoptiz#test pilot#rocket power
151 notes
·
View notes
Text

251 notes
·
View notes
Photo

Me-163 before the start.
37 notes
·
View notes
Video
youtube
Me 163 The German Fraunhofer Institute and Deutsche Museum Munich did a full x-ray of a Me-163 to allow a complete analysis without destroying it. Narration is in German, but the plane and 3D images are "multi-lingual" ;) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG6fHxHfIms
14 notes
·
View notes
Text

The most famous of Hellmuth Walter's rocket motors was the Kiel Kommandogesellschaft HWK 109-509A-2 bi-propellant liquid-fuelled rocket motor that powered the Messerschmitt Me.163 Komet.
@ron_eisele via X
16 notes
·
View notes
Text

1945 01 Me163 Komet EJG2 - Takayoshi Wada - box art Hasegawa
59 notes
·
View notes
Video
tumblr
from source : great website dedicated to the type: https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/me163.htmthe only known gun camera footage of the type successfully intercepting Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses in August 1944: https://www.reddit.com/r/GunCameraClips/comments/nh4g3k/the_only_known_footage_of_a_successful_bomber/
24 notes
·
View notes
Video
youtube
Test Pilot Close Calls With Eric "Winkle" Brown. From the SR.A/1 To The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet
#youtube#komet#me 163#me163#messerschmitt#eric brown#eric winkle#winkle brown#de havilland#test pilot
1 note
·
View note